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Rice University Athletics
Rice Game Notes
10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 1, 2011
General Notes
The Southern Miss game marked the Rice Owls' first game outside the state of Louisiana and the first at M.M. Roberts Stadium since Oct. 3, 2007 - a 31-29 Rice victory.
Rice University captains for the Southern Miss game were seniors Justin Allen (LB), Tyler Parish (OL), Michael Smith (DL) and Tyler Smith (OL). Southern Miss won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Rice received to begin the game and defended the south goal.
By the start of the second half, the temperature at M.M. Roberts Stadium was 64 degrees. Kickoff for the USM game was 69 degrees. In the previous three games, kickoff temperature averaged 96.7 degrees.
Both senior receiver Brent Hotard and sophomore defensive end Dylan Klare made their first career starts in the Southern Miss game.
Offense
Rice had a -3 yards of total offense through its first three offensive series (three, three-and-out series) before the Owls put together a seven-play, 80-yard scoring drive.
Vance McDonald turned a screen pass into a 42-yard pick up late in the first quarter. McDonald's career-high of 49 yards came last year against Tulsa. Following a pass interference call on third-and-one, and a one-yard pick up by quarterback Taylor McHargue, McDonald caught a 2-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone.
McDonald finished the 2010 season with five touchdowns in the last three games. After being held without a score in the Owls' first two games of the season, McDonald now has three touchdown receptions in the past two games.
Defense
For the fourth straight game this season, Rice did not allow an opponent to score on its opening drive. USM's Danny Hrapmann missed a 48-yard field goal attempt to cap the Golden Eagles' first series.
Bryce Callahan recorded his first career interception, returning the ball 25 yards to the Southern Miss 4. It was the first interception by a Rice player this season. Rice would fumble on second-and-goal, marking the first time this season the Owls' failed to score when inside the Red Zone.
Callahan went on two have two interceptions in the game. The last time a Rice player had two interceptions in the same game was Brandon King against SMU (Aug. 29, 2008).
Xavier Webb returned a fumble 96 yards to give Rice a 24-20 lead with 10:50 to play in the third quarter. It was the longest opponent fumble return in Southern Miss history. The play was Webb's second career fumble recovery. The play was also the third fumble return for a touchdown in the game (two by Rice, one by Southern Miss).
Webb's play ended a streak of 35-straight games without a defensive touchdown. The Owls' previous defensive score came on a Chris Douglas' interception return in the fourth quarter of the North Texas game in 2008.
Webb had 13 tackles (7 solo stops), a new career high.
Scott Solomon was credited with a fourth-quarter sack. He now has 18.5 for his career. He is now 1.5 sacks behind Ndukwe Kalu (1993-96) who had 20 during his career.
Special Teams
On the final play of the first quarter, Michael Kutzler returned a fumble of USM's Francisco Llanos' kickoff return 19 yards for a touchdown. Zach Patt forced the fumble on Llanos' return. In a matter of seconds, the Owls went from trailing 13-0 to leading 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.
The play marked Rice's first special teams' touchdown since Phillip Gaines recovered a muffed punt for a score last season against SMU. The play was the first returned of a fumbled kickoff by a Southern Miss opponent since the Golden Eagles played Troy in the 2008 New Orleans Bowl.
Rice has recovered five fumbles in 2011, three having come on kickoffs.
Chris Boswell booted a 41-yard field goal with 47 seconds to play in the first half, to pull the Owls' to within three, 20-17. The field goal was the 17th of Boswell's career. He currently ranks seventh on the Rice all-time list. Ranked ahead of Boswell in sixth on the Rice list is Alan Pringle (1973-74) who had 19 field goals during his career.
